


The Start of Something Awful

by h_nb



Series: Phoebe [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Discovering Powers, Fear, Isolation, Original Character(s), Pregnancy, Unstable relationship, Whump, Whumptober 2020, powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:15:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26902726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/h_nb/pseuds/h_nb
Series: Phoebe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1954471
Comments: 4
Kudos: 1
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	The Start of Something Awful

It all hit her out of nowhere, overwhelming and all at once.

The end of a busy shift, preparing to walk out the door. A crowd of people entered the hospital as she attempted to exit for the night and somewhere in the shoulders she brushed past, something hit her like a ton of bricks, dropping her to her knees as she was mentally assaulted by a thousand unfamiliar inputs, information and words and phrases coming from all around her, one word indistinguishable from the next as it flooded her mind with the incomprehensible thoughts of everyone who surrounded her. A crowd had formed around her as she had fallen to the ground, hands nearly clawing at her head as she fought a losing battle against the rush of feelings and fear that surrounded her, constantly shifting and changing as people passed by.

Some kind soul stepped forward to help her up, offering her hand, and Phoebe took it blindly, only to cry out as the hand became a current, a direct line to... phrases, too frantic and new for Phoebe to untangle in her panic. She wrenched her hand back, instead placing it on the floor to help her stand on unsteady legs, stumbling out of the crowd. Pushing through bodies felt like sending shocks through her whole being, assaulted again and again with thoughts that didn't belong to her. Phoebe stumbled forward, the humid night air only leaving her feeling like she couldn't breath, drowning underneath the sudden influx of feelings around her. She sobbed into the night air, clamping a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound.

The overwhelming feeling persisted until she got back to her apartment. Every person she passed back send a new wave of thoughts and emotions crashing into her, a series of what felt like physical blows that left her leaning against a wall with her hands clamped to her ears like it was doing anything to drown out the sound. A few feet later the building ended, so Phoebe paused by a streetlamp for a moment, hand clenched around the pole as she found her balance again. When she stood and released her hand from the pole, there was a clear indent where her hand had seemingly crumpled the metal of the pole, leaving a deep imprint of her hand. Phoebe gasped, staring wide eyed at the crushed metal, stumbling away from it with a hand wrapped around a nauseous stomach

The moment she had gotten through the door to her apartment, she locked the doors, throwing the curtains shut. As she did so, the noise quieted, winding down but not disappearing entirely. Phoebe crumpled onto the couch, her whole body shaking in a way it hadn't in years as she tried her best to get a grip on herself. As she sat there, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth in carefully counted intervals, she started to separate the tangled mess of threads in her head that didn't belong to her. There weren't as many now that she was out of the hospital, but she still was receiving intrusive words in her mind she knew didn't belong to her--

_where is the spider where is it oh god it's gonna find me while im showering while i'm sleeping this damn spider._

Phoebe shook her head, brow furrowed in confusion. Above her there was muffled commotion, some shouting, and then a triumphant "Got the little asshole!" from above her, followed by a different voice that shook as it said "Squish it! Toss it outside, get rid of it!"

Phoebe exhaled, tipping her head to the ceiling at to her loud neighbors, one who... was very afraid of spiders.

"Oh, God," she murmured, stomach twisting once more. She continued attempting to untangle those threads, and as she did so, pinning them each to the neighbors who surrounded her, Phoebe slowly came to realize that it wasn't thoughts she was reading, but only the fears of the people around her. "Oh _God_ , make it stop, what is this, please, God." Prayers flowed through her lips, barely understandable as they left her mouth, promising anything to get this overflow of fear in her head to stop.

Eventually, when breathing had become slightly easier, Phoebe stood again on unsteady feet and made her way to the kitchen, intent on making some coffee. If she could hold a mug in her hand and focus on the warmth of the drink, Phoebe only hoped that that would be enough to drown out the surrounding noises.

In a few short minutes, the kettle had clicked off with steam billowing from it. Phoebe poured the water and picked up the mug, exhaling slowly at the heat that pulsed at her palms, giving her something to focus on. She stared at the coffee swirling in the mug, and tried to think of nothing at all.

There was a sudden knock at the door, and all the focus Phoebe had on briefly keeping her mind free of all those fears that belonged to others came back in a flash, and her hands tightened instinctively. The mug cracked, and then split underneath her hands, sending shards of pottery crashing to the floor and hot liquid splashing all over her hands. Phoebe yelped, once again overwhelmed by the fears that crashed into her mind. She shoved her hands underneath the sink and turned on cold water, shoulders shaking with repressed sobs as she did her best to prematurely take care of the burns.

The knock came again, more insistent. "Phoebe?"

Phoebe clenched her jaw, leaning over the sink as she fought through the haze of pain and the tangle of fears, now with a new one threading into her mind. She recognized the voice as Jaylen's, but she couldn't remember at the moment why he was here, or what she was supposed to do about him. "Go away," she bit out toward the door, barely keeping her voice from shaking.

"C'mon, you said we had to talk, so let me in already."

Phoebe turned away and pulled her hands out of the sink as she comprehended his words. She reached down with a towel in hand to pick up the broken mug when Jaylen's fears hit her like another car, bowling into her with _what is it what does she want she found out about the weed I've been selling she's pregnant i can't do that I'll leave her I'm not paying no child support-_

Phoebe stood abruptly, broken mug pieces clattering to the floor once more, and braced her burning palms on the kitchen counter, staring blankly down at the draining water. She took in that information, all of its winding and rambling parts, and tears came to her eyes again, thinking of the piece of plastic that was still resting on her bathroom counter.

"Get out!" she yelled, voice cracking in a sob, unable to contain it. Her hands shook with oversensitive nerves as she marched to the front door, flinging it open to a Jaylen who looked afraid and guilty, and his immediate presence only strengthened those fears that ran through Phoebe's head. "Get out, if you can't- you're not going to h-help, you're too a-afraid to raise this- to help me, than just- leave, I can't- can't have all this a-around me, it's-" Her voice wavered more and more as she continued to speak, tears of fury and sorrow rolling down her cheeks. "Just go."

"Damn, okay, fucking crazy..." Jaylen shook his head as he stepped back, and Phoebe only breathed again once he had left the building and all traces of those fears had faded from her mind.

She cleaned up the broken mug. Wrapped her hands. Tossed the test in the garbage.

Phoebe didn't go back into work. She called in, citing a personal problem, but after that day, she stopped showing up.

She isolated herself in the apartment, spending days at a time without leaving, the idea of wandering those streets and being hammered by so much fear from the surrounding people such an overwhelming thought that Phoebe didn't want to risk it.

So she stayed there, alone, save for when she would glance down at her slowly growing stomach and rest a gentle hand on it. The fears around her faded for that moment, and the only thoughts in her mind was the fear of what she was going through with, and the all consuming love for the child she had yet to meet.


End file.
